Position grades for Seahawks' defense in 2018

January 12, 2019 7:56 PM

DEFENSIVE LINE

GRADE: B

REASONING:

One must give credit where credit is due: this group turned out to be a lot better than anyone expected.

With several high-profile departures -- Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Sheldon Richardson -- there were major questions in regards to where the leadership and the pass rush were going to come from. Frank Clark was the only established player coming into 2018, and even he needed to step up.

What we saw was Clark take a massive leap -- establishing himself as an elite pass rusher -- and young players on the D-Line exceed expectations.

Clark all but assured himself of getting a big multi-year extension this offseason (or at least, as reports suggest, a premium franchise tag in the short term), posting career highs in sacks (13.0), quarterback hits (27), forced fumbles (3) and fumble recoveries (2). His sack count was tied for seventh best in the NFL.

Defensive tackle Jarran Reed made as big a leap in 2018 as any player on the Seahawks roster. A known run stopper dating back to his days at Alabama, Reed wasn’t a pass rusher at the start of his pro career; He had just 3.0 sacks in his first two seasons combined. But he exploded for 10.5 as a third-year pro and joined Clark as the voice of the D-Line.

Rookies Jacob Martin and Poona Ford emerged for Seattle late in the season, in the pass rush and run defense respectively. Dion Jordan and Quinton Jefferson provided productivity in spurts. But as a whole, the Seahawks’ D-Line wasn’t consistent enough in bringing pressure to opposing quarterbacks. The team was another pass rusher away from becoming a legitimate threat.

Did we get a taste of the Seahawks’ cornerback tandem of the future in Shaquill Griffin and Tre Flowers? The youth (and mistakes) showed up at times, but they both made some big-time plays.

Flowers was arguably CB1 by the end of the season and may have been Seattle’s top rookie. The safety-turned-corner was third on the team with 67 tackles and his three forced fumbles ranked first out of all rookie defensive backs.

Griffin had his struggles late in the season; a couple blown coverages immediately come to mind. But he’s filled the big question mark at left CB (Richard Sherman’s old position) and has plenty of room to grow heading into his third NFL season. At his end-of-season news conference last week, head coach Pete Carroll said Griffin was “very consistent” this past season and the team isn’t concerned about him going forward.

Griffin had 59 tackles, including three for loss, and two interceptions in Year 2.

Apart from linebacker Bobby Wagner, safety Bradley McDougald was the MVP of the Seahawks’ defense. He was the voice of the DBs. His leadership, versatility (played both strong and free safety) and tackling instincts played a critical role in making sure Seattle’s secondary didn’t experience a massive drop off in effectiveness, like many thought they would because of the high-profile departures. McDougald was tied for the team lead in interceptions (3), second in tackles (78), and third in passes defensed (9). He was also named a Pro-Bowl alternate.

But the rest of the safety play was sort of a mixed bag. After Earl Thomas landed on IR in Week 4, Tedric Thompson became the starting free safety. Despite his share of big plays, Thompson had some costly open-field tackles throughout the year which begged the question: Is he truly the future at the position in Seattle? Year 3 for Thompson may answer this.

The safety tandem of McDougald and Delano Hill showed promise, but we only saw a limited sample of it at the end of 2018. Hill saw a more pronounced role the last six games of the regular season, and started the last two (Hill played strong safety and pushed McDougald to free safety) with Thompson sidelined. But he landed on injured reserve with a hip fracture ahead of the wild-card game against the Cowboys.

One must give credit where credit is due: this group turned out to be a lot better than anyone expected.

With several high-profile departures -- Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Sheldon Richardson -- there were major questions in regards to where the leadership and the pass rush were going to come from. Frank Clark was the only established player coming into 2018, and even he needed to step up.

What we saw was Clark take a massive leap -- establishing himself as an elite pass rusher -- and young players on the D-Line exceed expectations.

Clark all but assured himself of getting a big multi-year extension this offseason (or at least, as reports suggest, a premium franchise tag in the short term), posting career highs in sacks (13.0), quarterback hits (27), forced fumbles (3) and fumble recoveries (2). His sack count was tied for seventh best in the NFL.

Defensive tackle Jarran Reed made as big a leap in 2018 as any player on the Seahawks roster. A known run stopper dating back to his days at Alabama, Reed wasn’t a pass rusher at the start of his pro career; He had just 3.0 sacks in his first two seasons combined. But he exploded for 10.5 as a third-year pro and joined Clark as the voice of the D-Line.

Rookies Jacob Martin and Poona Ford emerged for Seattle late in the season, in the pass rush and run defense respectively. Dion Jordan and Quinton Jefferson provided productivity in spurts. But as a whole, the Seahawks’ D-Line wasn’t consistent enough in bringing pressure to opposing quarterbacks. The team was another pass rusher away from becoming a legitimate threat.